CHAPTER XI 



CLASSIFICATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF INSECTS 



The mute insect, fix't upon the plant 



On whose soft leaves it hangs, and from whose cup 



Drains imperceptibly its nourishment, 



Endear'd my wanderings. 



Wordsworth 



Nomenclature and Classification of Insects. In order to 

 write intelligently about animals, it is necessary that nat- 

 uralists should have some uniform system of naming, or 

 nomenclature, since the common names of animals vary 

 not only in the different countries and languages but even 

 in different parts of the same country. It will be noticed 

 that each insect, when first spoken of in these chapters, is 

 accompanied by a scientific name printed in italics. Thus 

 the Rocky Mountain grasshopper is Melanoplus spretus; 

 the common red-legged grasshopper, Melanoplus femur- 

 rubrum ; the lesser grasshopper, Melanoplus atlanis. These 

 different kinds or species of grasshoppers differ in size, 

 color, and habitat, and they each receive a different specific 

 name, as spretus, femur-rubrum, and atla?iis. They agree 

 in other characteristics, such as the general structure, size, 

 and proportion of their parts, and they are therefore placed 

 in the same group, or genus, -^- Melanoplus. The word 

 "genus" is thus seen to be a term of wider application 

 than the word "species." A genus may include one or 

 several species. The generic and specific names make up 

 the complete scientific name of an animal. The names are 

 always taken from the Latin or Greek, or are Latinized in 

 form, so that they are understood by all scientific men. 



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